I’ve received several requests for the recipes for some of the cupcakes I’ve featured lately so today I thought I’d share them! The Vanilla Bean & Chai Cupcake recipe is from the Lions, Tigers & Bears, Oh My baby shower and the Baby Got Bock Cupcake is the recipe I created for the Iron Cupcake: Beer competition. Baby Got Bock is a chocolate cake made with home-brewed dopplebock beer, caramel cream frosting and Heath bits – unfortunately I don’t have a real picture – so use your imaginations 🙂

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time and beat in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flours with a whisk and in a large measuring cup combine chai and milk. Alternately work in about 1/3 of the flour mixture and 1/3 of the liquid, beating well after each addition. Repeat until all ingredients are beaten in. Beat in chai powder or spices and adjust with additional spice as needed to taste. Batter should be both sweet and slightly spicy. Pour batter into standard muffin tins, approximately 3/4 full and bake for 20-23 minutes. Cool completely.

For frosting, beat butter until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar one cup at a time, adding vanilla and half & half slowly for moisture to achieve desired consistency. Frosting should be thick and creamy. Slit vanilla beans length-wise and use a knife to scrape out the inside and seeds, adding to frosting. Beat well and pipe onto cupcakes.

Use a leaf cookie cutter (or a small circle and pinch the ends to form leaves) on rolled out sugar cookie dough. Bake 5-7 minutes. In a small bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Use a whisk to whip in powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Add green food coloring and frost cooled cookies. Frosting hardens quickly so work fast!

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time and beat in vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa. Alternately work in about 1/3 of the flour mixture and 1/3 of the beer, beating well after each addition. Repeat until all ingredients are beaten in. Pour batter into standard muffin tins, approximately 3/4 full and bake for 20-23 minutes. Cool completely.

For frosting, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar one cup at a time, adding vanilla and half & half slowly. Beat in caramel and pipe onto cupcakes. Top with Heath bits.

Cupcake Tips:
Over time I’ve found that there are a few things I didn’t believe would make a difference but they do:
1. Mixing your dry and wet ingredients separately is worth the extra effort. You get a better batter consistency and more even flavor.
2. Overbaking is the fastest way to kill your cupcakes. When in doubt, always set a timer for a little less time than the recipe calls for and test with a toothpick. You may have to monitor them for the next few minutes on your first batch but you’ll be able to pull them right away when the toothpick comes clean. Even a few extra minutes can dry them out.
3. Make sure your butter and cream cheese are both at room temp before you make cream cheese frosting. If you try to melt your butter (or something else) and beat it into cool cream cheese, it will get clumpy and gross.
4. Let your cupcakes cool completely before you frost. I’m talking a few hours or even over night. Otherwise you risk crumbly cake, melty frosting and a lot of frustration.